Welded connector



M. H. JOHNSON WELDED CONNECTOR Filed July 17, 1943 Feb. 19, 1946.

Patented Feb. 19, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WELDED CONNECTOR Marvin H. Johnson, Baldwin Park, Calif.

Application July 17, 1943, Serial No. 495,156

4 Claims.

This invention relates to electrical connectors such as employed for attachment to an insulated cable for the purpose of effecting a metallic contact to the conductor within the cable, so as to enable a local circuit to be established, supplied with current from the cable, and it also relates to a welding operation which is employed in forming the connector.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a connector of very simple construction, which presents a socket in which the cable end of the local circuit can be securely clamped after making connections of the wires of the circult to the connector; and to construct the connector in such a way that it can be formed and the connection established without necessitating any machining whatever on the connector, and without necessitating the use of any tools except a welding electrode in securing the cap of the connector to the connector body.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of welding, and an improved weld between the copper of one of the conductors for the local circuit and the iron of the connector.

In one aspect, as regards the construction of the connector, this invention may be regarded as an improvement on the connector disclosed in my prior patent, No. 2,299,989, granted to me on October 27, 1942, entitled Connector for temporary lamp circuit.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel features of the connector, and in the novel method of welding a copper conductor to the same, as described in the following specification, all of which features cooperate to produce an efllcient connector and method of welding the same.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a connector embodying my invention, and in this view in dotted lines, I illustrate the use of an electrode for attaching one of the copper wires of the local circuit to the connector. In this view I also indicate the supply-cable in dotted lines, andalso the cable end for the local circuit, broken away.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the connector without showing the cables.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the connector embodying my invention, showing a portion of a supply cable to which the connector is attached, the middle portion of the supply cable being broken away and shown partially in section. This view also illustrates a portion of the cable end for the local circuit.

Fig. 4 is a plan of the body of the connector with the cap removed, but with its insulating I bushing removed.

' In practicing the invention, I provide a connector I having a body I a and a cap or cover lb. The adjacent faces of these two parts are constructed so that when they are put together, they form a socket 2 for the cable end 3 of the local circuit that is to be established. In forming this socket 2, I prefer to form it by providing a. channel 2a in the outer face of the body Ia, which extends longitudinally on the axis 01' the body, and this socket at one end includes a substantially circular recess 4 into which the channel portion of this socket extends.

The cap lb is preferably formed with a downwardly projecting rib 5 which extends over the channel 20, and this rib has a concave under face 6 that completes the circular form of the cable socket, the lower portion of which is formed by the concave bottom of the groove or channel 2a.

The connector is preferably formed of iron or steel, and the body la has substantially the form of a block, the face of the body removed from the cap lb, being provided with a pair of extensions 1 and 8 which are of rudimentary hook-form (see Fig. 2). These extensions are located on opposite sides of the plane of the axis of the body, so that they may cooperate to engage the supply cable 9 from opposite sides, and thereby hold the connector on the cable. On the axis of the circular recess l, I provide an opening I0 that extends down from the socket through the wall of the body, and emerges on the face of the body that lies adjacent to the supply cable 9. The cable end 3 is clamped between the sections la and lb of the body. Within the enlarged recess 4 which is preferably of circular form as described, I provide insulating means ll which, in the present instance, consists of a bushing having an enlarged head and having a reduced body that fits into the opening l0 (see Fig. 3). And I provide a contact pin which is received in this bushing, said pin preferably including an enlarged head l2 and a shank that terminates in a point or spur l3 which will penetrate the insulation ll of the cable 9. and efiect metallic contact with the conductor it within this cable. Before clamping the cover lb in place, one of the wires I! of the cable end 3 is bared of insulation, and bent around the shank of the contact pin under its head I2, as

a terminal. Then a small wad or disc ll of insulating material is placed in the upper portion of the recess 4 between the head I! of the contact pin and the adjacent face of the cover lb. ter this insulating means I! is put in position, the other wire i8 of the local circuit is bared, and carried across the upper face of this insulation, and its end is then carried to the outside of the connector and attached by means of a weld is to the end of the connector opposite to the channel 2:: in which the cable I3 is located. In forming this weld, I prefer to use an electric welding electrode indicated in dotted lines in Fig. i, which is composed of iron. By doing this, the material composing the weld 2!, consists of fused copper of the wire, some iron from the iron body of the connector, and some iron from the iron electrode. So far as I know, I am the first to make such a weld, that is to say, a. weld that effects the welding of copper to iron, accomplished by means of an iron electrode. After making the weld II, the cap i b is then secured to the body of the connector by another weld 22 which is formed by employing an iron electrode. In attaching the connector body to the cable 9, it is merely necessary to apply the connector to the side of the cable with the cable 9 extending transversely to the longitudinal axis of the body. In this way the point or spur i3 is forced through the insulation 24 so as to impale the cable 9, after which the body is rotated through 90 so as to hook the extensions 1 over the cable 9.

Although this connector can be used for establishing any kind of a local circuit connected to a supply cable, in practice, it is expected to be most useful for establishing a lamp circuit for a welder. Such a circuit is illustrated in my prior patent referred to above, and in that circuit the body of the connector lies on a grounded support, either a part of the metal work being welded and lying on the ground, or some metal part that is connected to the ground.

It is most advantageous to connect the cap lb to the body la by welding, because it prevents unauthorized persons from taking the connection apart; and it avoids the necessity for tightening up the screws from time to time, that have been used heretofore on this connector.

Many other embodiments of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A connector for establishing a local circuit and metallic contact to an insulatingly sheathed supply cable, including the combination of a body having means for attaching the same to the said cable, a cap on said body, said cap and body being formed of conductive material and defining therebetween a cable socket for clamping the end of a cable for the local circuit, said body having an opening extending into the socket through the wall of the body adjacent to the supply cable. insulation means in said socket, a contact pin having a shank mounted in said insulating means, having" a point passing through the insulation of the supply cable and effecting metallic contact with the conductor therein and operating as the terminal for one of the wires extending from said cable end, and insulation means in said socket located between the contact pin and the said cap: the outer face of said last named insulation means operating as a seat across which the other wire from the cable end may extend.

2. A connector for establishing a local circuit and metallic contact to an insulatingly sheathed suppl cable, including the combination of a body having means for attaching the same to the said cable, a cap on said body, said cap and body being formed of conductive material and defining therebetween a cable socket for clamping the end of a cable for the local circuit, said body having an opening extending into the socket through the wall of the bodyadjacent to the supply cable, insulation mean in said socket, a contact pin having a shank mounted in said insulating means, having a point passing through the insulation of the supply cable and effecting metallic contact with the conductor therein, a cable end for the local circuit clamped in said socket, having a wire extending therefrom and connected to said contact pin as a terminal, insulating means in said socket between the cap and the adjacent end of said contact pin; the other wire of the local circuit extending from said cable end, and across the sideof said second insulation means adjacent the cap; and welds connecting the end of said second wire to the connector and connecting said cap to said body.

3. A connector for establishing an electric light circuit fed by an insulatingly sheathed welder's cable including the combination of a body having a pair of hook-form extensions projecting therefrom on opposite sides of the axis of the body for attaching the same to the exterior of the insulating sheath of the cable, with the said axis of the body extending substantially parallel with the axis of the cable, a cap secured to said body, said cap and said body formed of conductive material and having a configuration on their meeting faces cooperating to form a cable socket in which the cap clamps the electric light cable, said cable socket having an opening extending from the socket through the wall that lies adjacent to the cable, an insulated bushing mounted in said opening, a contact spur having a shank extending through said bushing and having a. head seating on the outer face of the bushing and operating as a terminal for one of the wires of the lamp cable. and having a point at its forward end extending through the insulation of the welding cable and effecting metallic contact with the conductor within the cable, and insulation means seating in the socket over the said head and held down on said head by said cap, the other wire of the lamp cable being electrically grounded on said connector.

4. A connector structure comprising: a metallic body member having opposed hook portions adapted to fit around an insulated main cable; a metallic cap member fitted over said'body member; a prong insulated from said body member and extending therefrom into said insulated cable; a conductor receiving cavity defined by the confronting portions of said cap and body members, said cavity adapted to receive a two-conductor local cable secured by an end in said cavity, one conductor thereof grounded to said members. the other connected to said prong.

MARVIN H. JOHNSON. 

